Cigarette humidor and dispenser



May 22, 1951 w. J. OBRIEN JR 2,553,671

CIGARETTE HUMIDOR AND DISPENSER Filed Oct. 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 22 Fig.

V 50 m" M William J. O Brien, Jr.

I N V EN TOR.

406: 32 WWW May 22, 1951 w. .1. OBRIEN, JR

CIGARETTE HUMIDOR AND DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 24, '1949 8 u. a o 4 Q R W 6 W m m M sfi M a 1 a a 4..

a v E 5 w E. 6 w w 2 V A; w

William J. O Brien, Jr. INVENTOR. wi

BY MM Patented May 22, 1951 Jr.," assess a, 1921i; seal mm a case (01. mesh for dispensing cigarettes from" the case driecharacter described whichincludes a base member for supporting the cigaretteholder or case which is substantially rectangular in shape and which iiicludesside rimsor edges for retaining cigarettes falling on the base andpreventirig the cigarettes from; dropping off: IllQ PQISQ, member. The base, member is also provided with an are cuate'df platform beneath an exit slot tn? oi ett holder or case'wh H 1 denterofjth' base downwardly toward" the rim so that a cigarette dispensed from the case'will roll toward any onei of the1,rims;na11owing for easy access to the dispensedcigarette.

T e,together with var 'us ancillary. 651

and features of the invention which wilflater become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the device, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the device;

Figure '2 is a side elevational view of the device;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the device;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the humidifying unit;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of section line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of section line 6-6 of Figure 1; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane of section line 1-1 of Figure 1.

Specific reference will now be made to the drawings. In the several views, in the accompanying drawings and in the following specification, similar reference characters indicate corresponding elements throughout.

This invention ma es as a never acac a-es w ch re ovably retains ah aiieiieaa eftursfsfa and ajnr The present device may be fabricated of any suitable material but preferably Of an attractiv 1y; colored plastic; The device consists" of a casing 15' which may be" of any shape; but preferably substantially cylindrical, including a continu us n'd wan :2 having an axially extending exit s jotjfe at' ts' bbttoifi end. Thee'nd w'all' l2 is; secured to: side walls l6 and [8, the end' wall 2 being provided with an opening at its top end for receiving a} closur plate 01f door 20 new: t a handle 22 thereon, the door resting upon the upper edges of the" side plat'es lfi or J8, as will: be readily apparent with reference to Figurea to the side plate'silfi and I 8' is a fur pair of side plates 24 and 2t-',- ese tite1y, v have leg? portions iiliand 3!] which are, in turn, secured to a base" member 32' fcirl supporting the casing l5 on the basememberi rod 34 exten ds axially through the" casing; the s id'wallslifi' and 18', and thesidewaHsfi a d 2 6 servesto" additionally secure mean-1e21- andffito thewallsl and l8, respectively. A1 6; a pa'ir of rods ektendiacross' the; asing an are secured" terminally to the side walls 24 I, 26 and serve as end guards for the removable Th e ee i m a eii yeew ei tends through one of the apertures 45 and'l'la's a knob 43 secured to the end thereof. Thus, it will be seen that the tube 42 is rotatably retained in one of the legs through the aperture 40, and by virtue of the reduced portion 46, the

tube cannot slip out of the legs. The tube 42 is further providedwith a plurality of spaced disks 5!! which extend partially into the exit slot [4, as shown clearly in Fiure 6, the disks being provided with axially aligned recesses 52 for receiving a cigarette 54 which falls by gravity into the recesses 52 and, when the tube 42 is rotated,- it will dispense the cigarettes from the casing I5 onto the base member 32.

Slidable in the tube 42 is a second tube 58 which is provided with a plurality of apertures 58 and a knob at one end thereof. This inner tube 56 is partially filled with an absorb ent material such as cotton 62 which is suitably saturated with a humidifying liquid, such as water. In order to non-rotatably retain the inner tube 56 within the outer tube 42 and to align the perforations 58 with the perforations 44 so that the evaporated fluid may pass through the exit slot l4 and into the casing ill to humidify the cigarettes therein, the following means is provided. The outer tube 42 is provided adjacent one end with a diametrically extending pin 64, see Figure 5, and the end of the humidifier tube 56 opposite the knob 50 is provided with an axially extending slot 66 for receiving the pin 64. When the humidifier tube 56 is slipped into the outer tube 42 and rotated so that the pin 64 slips into and engages the ends of the slot 66, the perforations 58 and 44 are automatically in alignment with each other and both the inner and outer tubes may be rotated together by means of the knobs 48 and 60 to dispense a cisarette from the casing upon the base member 32. This construction also allows the inner humidifier tube 56 to be readily removed from the outer tube 42 for replacement of the absorbent or hum'idifying fluid.

The base member 32 is preferably substantially rectangular and extends somewhat beyond both sides of the casing ID. The front and rear edges of the base member 32 are provided with upstanding rims in the form of rods 88 and 10 which serve to engage a dispensed cigarette and prevent the latter from falling oif the base member 32. The base member also includes a plat form 12 which is so arcuated that it has a relatively elevated portion 14 directly beneath the dispensing roller and portions 16 and I8 which slope downwardly toward the rims 68 and 10. Therefore, when the roller is rotated so that one of the recesses 52 receives a cigarette 54 and the cigarette is dropped through the exit slot l4, the cigarette will fall upon the high portion 14 of the platform and roll along either of the inclined portions 16 and 78 toward one of the rims 68 or Hi, where easy access to the cigarette may be had by the smoker.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary. It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A cigarette humidor and dispenser comprising a casing, a base, legs for supporting said casing on and spaced from said base, an elongated exit slot in said casing adjacent said base, a dispensing roller rotatably mounted in said legs beneath said slot, and a humidifier removably retained in said roller, said roller including a perforated tube and spaced disks secured on said tube extending part way into said exit slot, said disks including aligned recesses for retaining and dispensing cigarettes through said exit slot, said humidifier including a second perforated tube received in said first-mentioned tube, a fluid-retaining absorbent in said second tube, and means for non-rotatably retaining said second tube in said first tube and for aligning the perforations in both of said tubes.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said second tube retaining means includes a diametrically extending pin in said first-mentioned tube adjacent one end thereof, and an axially extending slot in one end of said second tube for receiving said pin.

3. A cigarette humidor and dispenser comprising a casing, a base, legs for supporting said casing on and spaced from said base, an elongated exit slot in said casing adjacent said base, a dispensing roller rotatably mounted in said legs beneath said slot, and a humidifier removably retained in said roller, said roller including a perforated tube, said humidifier including a second perforated tube received in said first-mentioned tube, a fluid retaining absorbent in said second tube, and means for non-rotatably retaining said second tube in said first tube and for aligning the perforations in both of said tubes.

WILLIAM J. O'BRIEN, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,141,781 Dickson June 1, 1915 1,928,603 Skareen Sept. 26, 1933 2,074,269 ODonnell Mar. 1, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 50,398 Switzerland of 1910 

